Netflix brought “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” to Hall H on Friday at Comic-Con 2019, treating fans to a full screening of the show’s first episode. Unfortunately, the rest of you will have to wait until the show premieres next month to see it yourself, but you can tide yourself over with a new behind-the-scenes clip made especially for SDCC.
Watch it above.
The clip mainly focuses on the creation and design of the puppetry and animatronics deployed for the series — they look incredible, in our opinion. But, toward the end, there’s a glimpse of the plot and it looks pretty epic — something about a tribe of Gelflings trying to stop something the Skeksis are doing. Sounds great, even if we know this is a prequel to the movie where we learn the Skeksis hunted Gelflings to extinction.
Preceding the full episode screening was a panel discussion featuring series director Louis Leterrier, executive producer Lisa Henson, and stars Taron Egerton and Mark Hamill. And just before the panel ended and the screening began, Comic-Con International (the nonprofit behind SDCC) presented Hamill with the 2019 comic-con icon award.
“This seems wildly excessive, but it is appreciated,” Hamill joked while accepting the award. “Listen guys, if it weren’t for you, I certainly wouldn’t be standing here. I started coming to these cons years before I met George,” he said, referencing “Star Wars director George Lucas.
“I was at the con when they said ‘did you here there’s gonna be 5000 people here this year?’ And I said ‘wow, how many are women?’” he continued. Hamill then sang the “Buddi song” from “Child’s Play”: “I am your buddy, until the end, more than a buddy, I’m your best friend. I love you more, than you will ever know, I will never let you go.” Hamill, of course, voices Chucky in the 2019 “Child’s Play” remake.
Siguorney Weaver, “Game of Thrones” alum Lena Headey, “Avengers: Engame” actor Benedict Wong, “Crazy Rich Asians” breakout Awkwafina, “Ant-Man and The Wasp’s” Hannah John-Kamen and original “Dark Crystal” star Dave Goelz have all also joined “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance,” a follow-up to the beloved 1982 film by Jim Henson.
They join an already packed cast led by “Rocketman” star Egerton, “The Witch” actress Anya Taylor-Joy and Headey’s “Game of Thrones” co-star Nathalie Emmanuel.
“Age of Resistance” tells a new story, set many years before the events of Henson’s original film, and realized using classic puppetry with cutting-edge visual effects. Per Netflix, “The world of Thra is dying. The Crystal of Truth is at the heart of Thra, a source of untold power. But it is damaged, corrupted by the evil Skeksis, and a sickness spreads across the land. When three Gelfling uncover the horrific truth behind the power of the Skeksis, an adventure unfolds as the fires of rebellion are lit and an epic battle for the planet begins.”
Other actors lending their voice to the project include Caitriona Balfe, Helena Bonham Carter, Harris Dickinson, Natalie Dormer, Eddie Izzard, Theo James, Toby Jones, Shazad Latif, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mark Strong, Alicia Vikander, Harvey Fierstein, Ralph Ineson, Jason Isaacs, Keegan-Michael Key, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Simon Pegg, Andy Samberg, Alice Dinnean, Louise Gold, Neil Sterenberg and Victor Yerrid.
“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” will launch on Netflix on Aug. 30.
TheWrap is in San Diego all week for Comic-Con 2019 — check out all of our ongoing coverage here.